Trying to get this back underway, and as I see Goofle's recommendation in the last post I say, sure why not?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...heelChrome.jpg
Title: Chrome
Artiste: Catherine Wheel
Year: 1993
Chronological position: Second album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Zero, but have heard Goofle enthuse about them
Genre: Alt-rock, Shoegaze

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Good
One track in --- Good
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Good

Comments: I like the power and energy in this, and given that Goofle described them as shoegaze I was expecting something much more introspective and navel-gazing. The power continues on through to the next track, with a sort of darker feel to it, even touches of prog rock in places. “Crank” is the first track I'd really categorise as shoegaze, although I'm probably not familiar enough with the genre to make that assumption. Like the harmonies in it. Still pretty powerful. Must say I'm impressed with everything so far. It's not making me sit up and go “Oh my god! Why did I not listen to this before?” but I can see why Goof rates it so highly.

Ok, now this one I don't like. Screechy, pointless feedback that ... oh. Falls right away and leaves in its place a really nice clean song, almost indie rock maybe, nice chorus. Love the guitar once the feedback is gone. Move your hand away from that “Least favourite tracks” line, Troll! Ah, you know what? I'm undecided. Parts of it are great and parts are boring. I'll have to think about it (which means I never will, of course) but meantime I really like the title track. Next one's pretty rockin' too. “Ursa Major Space Station” (great title!) has a hard, almost metal edge to it, great guitar workout. “Fripp” is just superb. “Half life” is good too but it gets a little unnecessarily chaotic, while closer “Show me Mary” is a good rocker.

Favourite track(s): Kill rhythm, Crank, Broken head, Chrome, Ursa Major Space Station, Fripp
Least favourite track(s): Not really anything I didn't at least enjoy

Final impression --- A very decent album but I wouldn't go mad about it. I could end up listening to it again, but if I never did it wouldn't bother me all that much.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it

Probably have to say E

http://www.trollheart.com/classic3.png

Glad to see this come back. Not familiar with that album, but I liked reading your take on it. Might check it out sometime.

By the way, have I bugged you about Weezer's Blue Album yet? I'm not sure if you'd be into it due to the Nirvana influence, but you might be able to appreciate the brilliantly crafted melodies. There's a distinct Cars influence, and Ric Ocasek produced it, so who knows? I'd say it's worth a listen.

Seeing as how you bothered to post, what the hell? I'll put it next in the queue.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Blue_Album.png

Awesome, thank you. :) Hope you like it.

Im looking forward to that review on the blue album.

i love that album but i anticipate you won't like it lol

http://memeshappen.com/media/created...meme-51546.jpg

Been almost two years since I dug this up, and I feel like trying to maybe get it going again. I'm still open (sort of) to suggestions, but remember, if you're going to recommend an album to me it must be a recognised classic, and that's by generally the world at large. I mean, you may think it's a classic, all your mates may think it's a classic but if it's not officially recognised as one, don't bother. This isn't “Love or Hate Part Two”; I don't want to just listen to albums because someone thinks it's good. If you're confused about the idea behind this journal then please re-read the OP and the first few posts. That said, if you can prove the album is a classic – even if I haven't even heard of it – then it may be considered. Note: I'm not asking for recs here. I have more than enough to get through already and will be shortly adding more, but this is just in case someone knows of a classic album I should give a chance. Also remember, it has to be an album I have not heard (clue is in the title).

In case this is – which it could very well be, given how long it's been since I wrote in this journal – your first experience of this, don't expect an in-depth review. These are, after all, classic albums, and it's assumed that most everyone (other than me) has heard them, so I won't be going deeply into the songs, just giving my own thoughts and impressions.

With that in mind, and as I'm currently reading his biography for Karen, let's do this one.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-_Thriller.png
Title: Thriller
Artiste: Michael Jackson
Year: 1982
Chronological position: Sixth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Who doesn't know some Jackson? Though I have never listened to one of his albums all the way through. Or even partially. I know him from his singles.
Genre: Pop/Funk

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Great
Finished --- Great

Comments: Yeah yeah I know: where have you been? But I was never a fan of disco, funk or really even pop, and though as Martin Prince said, “I'm aware of his work” (who could not be?) I was never that interested in Jackson's music. Despite myself, I have been exposed to his singles, so obviously I know quite a lot of this album. It's therefore the ones that weren't released as singles I am interested in. Perhaps also the structure of the album. I'll add in some trivia here too that I've picked up from the biography, as we're currently right at the making of this album. “Wanna be startin' somethin'” opens the album well, with a funky, upbeat dancy tune with a certain edge, one of the many singles. At the time, this and “Beat it” made me laugh, given that Jackson was such a quiet individual and the lyric on both was more or less based around fighting. I always considered disco and funk and soul as quite reserved in terms of comparing them to rock or metal; the gentler side of music sort of. Anyway the next one is one I don't know, one of only two I see.

Jackson's famous vocalise (Woo! Cha-mon etc) comes into its own on this album, but I have to say I find the album version of this opener way too long at over six minutes. Considering that apparently the original mix was too long and they had to delay the release of Thriller to shorten it, I'm surprised they didn't shorten this one down. But on to “Baby be mine”, the first of three songs written by Rod Temperton, who also wrote the title track. It comes across as very Jackson 5/EWF to me, very soul, very dance, very boring, to me. Meh. My darkest vitriol however is reserved for the next one, the cringeworthy collaboration with Paul McCartney, that stain on the music world we know as “The girl is mine”. God how I hate that song. In fairness, I hated any duet between him and Sir Paul, but this one really grinds my gears, and seems almost out of place on the album. Just awful. Urgh. Let's move on.

How could I not love the title track? With its horror-themed intro, its funky beats, its by-now-legendary lyric, it's a great song and then of course you have the added bonus of the late Vincent Prince guesting on it. Fun fact: when asked how he wanted to be paid for his work on the album, Price was offered a straight USD 20K or a percentage of the profits from the album. He chose the former. I bet he regretted that. Not that he needed the money but, you know, it sold over thirty million units. Anyway on to side two and I know almost all these, starting with “Beat it”. Another fun fact: Eddie Van Halen did the solo gratis, saying that he enjoyed doing it. What a guy huh? That knocking sound just before his solo? He confirms it's just him tapping on his guitar. So now you know. “Billie Jean” we all know, and after “Beat it” has (ahem) rocked things up, this brings it back to disco/funk basics, while also later causing a huge fracas at MTV, who initially refused to play the video because it was by a black artist! I know, sounds stupid when we say it now.

And even more fun factoids: “Human nature”, the next song up, and the only real ballad on the album, was included by a complete accident. Steve Porcaro of Toto , who was playing session on the album, was trying the song out, intending it to be a Toto song. He had it only partially written, and it got included on a tape sent to Quincy Jones (Thriller's producer) by mistake. He heard it, loved it, asked could they have it, and so it ended up here. It's a great song, one of the better ones certainly, but you can definitely hear the Toto sound on it.

That leaves “PYT (Pretty Young Thing”) written by James Ingram and another single, keeping the dance/funk vibe going, with some nice stabbing keyboard chords and perhaps some vocoder work on the chorus? Anyway it's okay but again I'm not much of a fan of any of these genres, but for what it is it's decent. The closer then is the final Temperton track, and the only other one on the album I don't know. “The lady in my life” is another ballad (so I was wrong about “Human nature” being the only one: sue me) and it's kind of typical of seventies soul ballads (I know this is an eighties album, that's the point) and the kind of thing the charts were full of. Meh.

Favourite track(s): “Thriller”, “Beat it”, “Human nature”
Least favourite track(s): “Baby be mine”, “The girl is mine”

Final impression Nobody could deny with a straight face that this is a classic album. After all, it's the biggest-selling album of all time, it's been selected for the Library of Congress and it made Jackson a bone fide star. Nevertheless, as there were so many singles from it I almost feel like I know it already, and it's been something of a wasted effort listening to the whole thing. I guess everyone should though, once in their life.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it

I'd probably give it a cautious H, but really, my life could have continued on fine without this.

http://www.trollheart.com/classic4.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...definition.jpg
Title: In the Wee Small Hours
Artiste: Frank Sinatra
Year: 1955
Chronological position: Ninth album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Are you fuckin' serious? :laughing:
Genre: Vocal jazz, easy listening

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Other (starting to flag and turning in the direction of Meh)
Finished --- Good

Comments: I'm by no means a Sinatra fan but I defy anyone to refute the man oozed class when he sung. It's hard not to be drawn into his music, just lose yourself in his voice. This is apparently considered the world's first concept album, as the songs all follow a linked theme, and he pioneered something to do with new microphones to enhance his way of singing too. For an album that runs for just over forty minutes it's packed with tracks, sixteen in all. One thing I really like about these “oldie” singers is their use of backing orchestras. It's not as if they used them as a prop or to disguise a weak voice or anything, as Sinatra could sing this acapella and be just as entrancing. But there's definitely an added dimension with the orchestra involved. Duke Ellington's famous classic “Mood indigo” gets the Sinatra treatment next, and from the titles, looking down, these all seem to be sad songs, with the possible exception of “Dancing on the ceiling”, so I wonder if it will get a little boring and predictable as it goes along? There are thirteen more tracks to go.

I like the orchestral arrangement to Hoagy Carmichael's “I get along without you very well” and there's a nice jazzy feeling to “Can't we be friends?”, slightly more uptempo than what's gone before, though only very slightly. I can see that my original worry is now beginning to manifest itself: it's getting a little boring, a little dreary. I would dare to venture that sixteen tracks was perhaps too many for one album, especially as they're all quite similar in tone. Still, it's certainly a good album, but I'm not sure I would really want to experience it a second time.

Favourite track(s): “In the wee small hours”, “Mood indigo”, “I get along without you very well”, “Last night when we were young”
Least favourite track(s): n/a

Final impression I don't deny the significance or importance of this album, or the contribution it made to music as an art form, but an album of ballads is a stretch for me to get through at the best of times, and not being a Sinatra fan, I found this pretty heavy going by about the halfway mark. There's no doubting the quality of Sinatra's singing or the greatness of the compositions. I just would have preferred something uptempo maybe to relieve the overall sense of depressing melancholia engendered by this album, at least in me. I guess that was the point, which is fair enough, but it's not for me.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it
I)Kind of not really that affected

Sort of I really...

http://www.trollheart.com/classic4.png

Translation: album was okay. 4 stars.

Translation: fuck off. :)

Translation: Batlord = :hphones::hphones::hphones::hphones::hphones:

You know it's weird: I could swear that I had posted this. I even recall having conversations with you guys about my reactions to it. Yet when I redid the index yesterday it wasn't there. I can see I wrote the review, so thought it seems really odd to me to be doing this, unless it disappeared somehow for some reason, it doesn't seem to have been posted so, you know, here it is.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...albumcover.jpg
Title: London Calling
Artiste: The Clash
Year: 1979
Chronological position: Third album
Previous experience of this artiste?: A few singles really

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Meh

Comments: Oh man, here I go, choosing another double album! Still, it's hailed as the true classic in the Clash's discography, and it was either this or Combat Rock, maybe Sandinista! so I'm going to stick with this. I of course know the title track but that's about it. So what of the rest? Well initially this doesn't come across to me as having too much of the punk in it at all, more rock-and-roll and rockabilly really. Can't say I love it now to be honest. "Rudie can't fail" sounds a little too like "I fought the law", but it's quite catchy with its sort of calypso rhythm.

More Springsteen-like is "Spanish bombs"; got a lot more of the anger I expect from the Clash, while "Lost in the supermarket" is almost Deacon Blue long before they were even heard of, or maybe Prefab Sprout. "Clampdown"'s good too and "The guns of Brixton" is angry reggae with elements of ska, I think. And that's halfway through.

It's interesting how many different genres are here, from ska and reggae to rockabilly and rock, all sort of viewed through a lens of punk though I wouldn't call it punk really. A lot of the rock here sounds very similar to Springsteen to me, not sure if they'd be happy to be compared to the Boss.

Favourite track(s): "London calling, Brand new Cadillac, Spanish bombs, Lost in the supermarket, The card cheat, Train in vain"
Least favourite track(s): Nothing really stands out as "bad", but I'm not mad about most of the reggae or ska-influenced songs.

Final impression --- Not as hard or angry as I expected, a big surprise with a lot of different genres, but not an album I think I'd be listening to again.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?

Sorry guys but it's an E for me on this one, to my own surprise as much as anyone else's!

http://www.trollheart.com/classic3.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ansformer.jpeg
Title: Transformer
Artiste: Lou Reed
Year: 1972
Chronological position: Second solo album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Only through my brief foray into The Velvet Underground, and the album Metal Machine Music. Other than that hit single of course.
Genre: Glam rock

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Good
One track in --- Good
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Meh

Comments: Does that opener sound like “Dizzy” ripped it off? Similar melody. Good track though. Can't say the same for “Andy's chest”: just kind of passed me by. Naturally I know “Perfect day” thanks to its use as a charity single. Obviously I know “Walk on the wild side”, his most famous song though I don't really like “Make up” - gives me a kind of Divine Comedy feel (yeah I know it would be decades before Neil came on the scene but still). Maybe it's the tuba I don't like. Don't know, but it does nothing for me. “Satellite of love” is better, like the accordion (is it?) in the midsection and the brass too. “Wagon wheel” is ok but kind of straight rock and roll, a little simple I feel, and as for “New York telephone conversation”... leave it out, mate!

Is that Jack Bruce's .... no, that's “I feel free” and this is “I'm so free”. Does sound similar though, unless I'm misremembering it. Has a very Bowie feel to it. Oh crap! More tuba for the closer. Don't think a lot of this one. Meh.

Favourite track(s): “Vicious”, “Perfect day”, “Walk on the wild side” (duh!), “Satellite of love”, “I'm so free”
Least favourite track(s): “Make up”, “New York telephone conversation”, “Good night ladies”

Final impression Yeah it's a good album but I'm not exactly blown away by it. Probably doesn't help that I'm not a VU fan.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it

I'd say this is an E

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Virgin1984.png
Title: Like a Virgin
Artiste: Madonna
Year: 1984
Chronological position: Second album
Previous experience of this artiste?: Oh we all know Madge don't we?
Genre: Pop

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Great
One track in --- Great
Halfway through --- Meh
Finished --- Meh

Comments: The album that broke Madonna commercially and ensured her name would forever come up first in a Google search, ahead of Michaelangelo, this contains four hit singles – five, if you include “Into the groove” which was put on the reissue in 1985 for territories outside of the US – and to date has sold over twenty million copies: ten million or so behind Thriller, but still enough to make it one of the biggest-selling albums in history. Of course I know most of the tracks, as they were singles, so “Material girl”, “Dress you up” and of course the title track are nothing new to me, but I'd kind of forgotten about “Angel”, though I did have the single when I was younger. Kinda thought it would be a ballad, but no: uptempo pop synthy thing. Meh. Oh yeah, I remember it now. Not too bad I guess. Pop goodness, as Batty would probably say.

“Over and over” is faster, almost new wave in its way, sort of reminds me of Depeche Mode on “Just can't get enough”. Maybe. It's pretty empty really. Meh. Again. Her version of Rose Royce's “Love don't live here anymore” is pretty decent, like the orchestral arrangement a lot. The album mix of “Dress you up” is a little long at just over six minutes, but hey, we're basically talking pop/disco here, and remixes are part of the whole thing. There's a little too much shimmery synth and annoying drums though, and it's definitely stretched out too long. That gives us “Shoo-be-do”, which I had assumed would be a fifties-style dance number and, well, isn't: it's a really nice piano ballad. Kicks up a little with a soul edge pretty quickly and it's sugary sweet but not too cloying. The sax break is good. “Pretender” has a nice hard pop sound, touches of new wave in there too especially in the keyboard runs. “Stay” sounds kind of like a precursor to “True blue”, which would be on her next album, actually the title track. It's ok: bouncy and happy with a nice beat.

Favourite track(s): “Material girl”, “Like a virgin”, “Shoo be do”, “Love don't live here anymore”
Least favourite track(s): “Over and over”

Final impression I'm no fan of Madge but I'm sure there are far better albums from her, especially as time went on and she honed her songwriting craft. But that's not the point of this journal. It doesn't matter if there are better albums – there surely are – it's the one recognised as her classic that we're concerned with, and this is it. For the time, and for a second album, pretty impressive. But pop's not really my thing. I doubt I'd bother listening to it again.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it

Meh, probably a G, no more than that.

http://www.trollheart.com/classic3.png

You should do Bitches Brew.

I kinda think I heard it. Maybe in my ill-fated jazz journal? I'll check. If I haven't already heard it I'll throw it in the queue.

No it isn't. So far as I know, nobody on earth considers it her classic. You just dun ****ed up. I dig that album, but it's not even considered her classic 80s album, which would be Like a Prayer. If you want this entry to not be bull**** then you have to do Ray of Light. If pop were prog then Ray of Light would be Edge of the World.

boo you, whore :( :mad::confused:

Okay, well, I did say June would be the month of the forgotten journal, and nothing says forgotten like FIVE YEARS between updates! I always enjoyed this journal, but it just got pushed to the background in the sudden onslaught of other, mostly non-music journals I started doing, and I had to search for it, finally locating it languishing all the way back on page 9. So here it is, not having been touched since 2017.

Now, before any of those of you who are experiencing this journal for the first time start with your "how can you not know that album?" or "I can't believe you haven't heard that!" - it's in the title of the journal. Also, check the OP. Also, fuck off. :)

To put this in a little context, I grew up in a time when the only way you could get music was to buy it, unless you taped it off the radio or TV, never a good way to get it. We had no YouTube. We had no streaming services. We had no itunes. We had no way to download music, legally or illegally. So you were very careful as to what you bought. CDs - and before that, LPs, or albums on vinyl - were expensive. I tended to stick to the artists/genres I knew, and collect their albums and little else. I was, to be blunt, very conservative about my music tastes. To somewhat paraphrase Genesis, I knew what I liked and I did not look further afield.

The charts did not interest me, and the latest fad in terms of music did not interest me, so while everyone might have been going on about, say, Thriller or Like a Virgin, or indeed Ride the Lightning, I stuck to what I knew. It was only later, after coming here, I began to realise how many classic (or so-called) albums I knew nothing about, which prompted to to kick this journal off.

Looking at the list now, I think there are maybe 10 albums left, so I'm open to new suggestions. Remember, if you want to rec an album, it has to be a classic. The criteria for a classic, for the purposes of this journal at any rate, are simple: it must be known widely, if possible outside of its genre, must either have sold very well or been critically acclaimed (preferably both) and should be generally acknowledged as among the artist's best work.

For now, assuming anyone is interested, let's keep it to one album each. We'll see how it goes, if at all. If there's no buzz, well I still have ten albums to do, and I can add new ones. Remember though, an album is not a classic just because you like it, or because you think it is or should be.

Okay then, let's get this show back on the road, see how long we last.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...l_Mod_Cons.jpg
Title: All Mod Cons
Artist: The Jam
Year: 1978
Chronological position: Third
Previous experience of this artist?: Just the singles
Why is this considered a classic? From what I read, it was the first really successful Jam album and established them as a proper force in the world of pop/rock music, kicking off somewhat the mod revival, and making a star out of Weller. Seems like it could have been their Born to Run, which is to say, their last chance before their label dropped them. All such thoughts were of course abandoned once this album hit the top ten, and the Jam were on their way.

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other?
One track in --- Meh
Halfway through --- Good
Finished --- Good

Comments: Let’s get this out of the way from the beginning: I was never a fan of the Jam. Hated them, in fact. It wasn’t just the mods v rockers thing, that you had to be one one side or another; I never moved in those circles and I didn’t care anyway. I was a progger and part-time metalhead, and happy to be so. The Jam just never appealed to me. However setting my own personal bias aside, I have over the years enjoyed their singles, such as “A Town Called Malice”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” (which is on this) and “Going Underground”, but I doubt I would or ever will be a fan, and I would be very surprised if this album changed my mind.

One thing you definitely have to give them is there’s a lot of energy - mostly angry energy, it must be said - in their music, and there is definitely the spectre of punk hanging over some of their music. Intriguing, when you think how Weller would change his sound and direction entirely when he formed The Style Counsel, but here he is definitely the archetypal Angry Young Man, playing the role (if it is a role) to its fullest. I don’t know if it was the Jam’s usual modus operandi, or a bid for airplay and hit singles, but almost every track here is under three minutes, which for me makes it a little hard to really get to grips with the music. I have, generally, heard nothing yet that has impressed me very much, though to be fair, I haven’t hated anything either.

Well oddly after saying that here’s something, though as it turns out “David Watts” is a cover of a Kinks song, so that’s a disappointment, as it seemed like the boys were finally pulling their collective fingers out, but I can’t really give them credit for a song that’s not theirs, so on we go. Now this is nice. “English Rose” is an original, a soft little acoustic number that slows down the somewhat frenetic pace of the album and allows me to catch my breath. Yes, it’s short, just like all the others, but in this song’s case the brevity works in its favour. Got to say, “In the Crowd” is very good too, and there’s a sense of the kind of rawness and, for want of another word, punkness falling away to reveal some pretty competent and quite interesting music. Maybe this is the turning point for me?

Yeah, maybe not. “Billy Hunt” takes us back to the basic thrash-it-out-and-shout-about-it idea, don’t like that one at all, but then in fairness “It’s Too Bad” is really good and has some excellent guitar in it, very catchy; I like this one. “Fly”’s good too, almost balladic, though not quite. It does tone things down though and has an almost early dreampop feel to it. Shut up, I’m doing my best here. Beatles-y guitar there too. I SAID, shut UP. The next two don’t do anything for me though and then we end on the single that everyone, even me, knows, and “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight” certainly brings the curtain down in fine style.


Favourite track(s): “English Rose”, “In the Crowd”, “It’s Too Bad”, “Fly”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”
Least favourite track(s): “Billy Hunt”, "The Place I Love", “A Bomb in Wardour Street”

Final impression --- Decent album but I’m still not a fan, nor can I honestly say I ever expect to be. Hey, I didn’t hate it, what more do you want?

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it
I) Didn’t really affect me.

Either an E or an F. Maybe a little of both. Could have been worse.

https://i.postimg.cc/VkrxLZMs/classic2.png

Stoked to see the return of this journal! :)
I might suggest an album myself but have to think on it for a bit to find the best possible one to rec, ideally something you'll genuinely enjoy too.

Hmm, London Calling gets an E and All Mod Cons gets almost an F.

You're not into English punk very much, are you?

Well actually I'm a little more into punk now than I used to be, with the likes of Rise Against and Frank Carter, but yeah, English punk not so much. Not that I think the Jam are going to be categorised by anyone as punk, nor did I suggest that; I just said you can hear the bovver boots of punk in their music - at least on this album - as you can on Iron Maiden's debut and, to an extent, their second album too.

But I think with The Clash it was more the expectation - and the disappointment at its realisation or rather non-realisation - that caused me to give it an E instead of an F. With The Jam, I sort of knew I probably wasn't going to enjoy it that much, and I kind of did enjoy it. A little. More than I expected to anyway.

So then -https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...7/Tealdeer.gif

The Clash: went in with high expectations, disappointed, so it gets an E.
The Jam: went in with low expectations, didn't hate it so it gets a possible F.

Next up:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...the_Tracks.jpg

Get ready, haters! :D

Way way back in 2013, when I had a lot more hair, a few more brain cells and began this journal (imagine, at that point I had FOUR journals going! I thought I had arrived! :laughing:) I mentioned that these albums were getting one shot to impress, but that later on I would attempt to relisten to them and see if my mind had been changed.

That never happened.

Until now.

It seems five years is a long enough time to reconsider my reactions to these albums, so I'm starting what was always going to be called, and why change it now, it's a good name for a section
https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...do8o8huQ-_HRVk

In point of fact, the first album I reviewed was in 2013, so really we're talking nine years here, almost a decade. Here's what I had to say about it back then.



http://theseconddisc.files.wordpress...-my-bloody.jpg
Title: Loveless
Artiste: My Bloody Valentine
Year: 1991
Chronological position: Second album
Previous experience of this artiste: Nothing
Why is this considered a classic? According to Wiki, this album invented shoegaze as a genre?

My thoughts
My reaction/immediate impression, ranging from Great, Good, Meh to Bad or Still waiting, or perhaps Other if nothing else fits.
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good
One track in --- Good
Halfway through --- Other: frustrated mostly. Some good ideas but hard to make them out under the weapons-grade distortion.
Finished --- Still waiting, but maybe Other, ie frustrated?

Comments: I was trying to place the voice, and now I know. Though this will mean nothing to any of you, he's very very similar to the lead singer from another Irish band, the Stars of Heaven. I'm not mad about the heavy reverb and distortion, which seems even to be on the vocals, though I've read it is or was MBV's trademark. Makes it a little hard to listen to, for me, specially on the second track. Almost like listening to two albums playing at once, one slightly behind the other. Track three is a bit stupid, just a squealing guitar and then some orchestral style keyboard, a short instrumental if you can call it that.

Look, is this backwards masked or something? Because To here knows when (huh?) sounds like that. It's just a mess. I must say I'm beginning to lose patience here people. Is it possible you have to be stoned to appreciate this? Cos it sounds like they are. So far, apart from the opening track, bloody awful. Right, and some growly guitar with a warped effect right at the end. Where's me tea? Sigh. On we go. When you sleep has a nice melody in there somewhere but so much gets twisted and warped it's almost like MBV can't stand to have an ordinary song on this album. Right, now it's settling down a little. Sort of.

Jesus! What do they have against allowing the vocals to be heard? This is really annoying me now. I'm getting angry now, and you wouldn't like me when I'm ... oh wait, I already used that line. Anyway, there does seem to be some good, possibly great music in there somewhere but it's all buried under mountains of distortion, reverb, echo and singing that can't really be made out that it's just become a jumbled mess as far as I'm concerned. Although... I do like that fading out guitar riff that's been running all through the song, and the next one up, Come in alone is actually listenable, with clear(ish) vocals, so that may make it onto my list of, so far, one favourite track. Actually, the previous one might squeeze in too, on the basis of that riff. Maybe.

Yeah, hold the phone: Sometimes is good too; guitar's growly but not drowning out the rest of the music, and the vocal's good. Nice melody. Say nothing, say nothing, fingers crossed... Ah no. Blown a wish brings all the feedback and distortion and hard-to-decipher vocals back. Oh well. Look, I know it's the way they do things, apparently, and I'm not saying anything against that, but it's making it hard for me to enjoy --- damn it, even listen to --- this album. What you want has a vaguely Prefab Sprout feel to it, but again the vox are hard to make out --- yes, yes, I know it's intentional, not bad production. That's the whole problem, and why I don't see this band being a good fit for me.

Favourite track(s): Only shadow, Come in alone, I only said, Sometimes
Least favourite track(s): Everything else

Final impression --- Kind of still waiting: I'll have to take a few more listens, but right now, I'd say good but not great.

Do I feel, at the end,
A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Not at all sure, have to wait and see

Sort C combined with D really. But I don't think I hate it. Or do I? :shycouch:

Okay, okay! Hold your guffaws! I had no idea what fucking shoegaze was, never mind that this was a shoegaze album, perhaps one of the most respected. I was mystified how anyone could listen to this. What do I think now?

Fuck knows.

I have to listen to it again.
I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Oh boy, this'll be interesting to see. Good idea to revisit albums several years on

Not officially suggesting this, but have you heard Forever Changes by Love?

Okay, well I have to say my opinion still has not changed that much. I mean, the music is decent, but the vocals not being (mostly) decipherable and the over-reverb or feedback or whatever makes it very hard for me to enjoy this. I definitely would still not be listening to it, or any more of their material again. So essentially, seven years has not made a difference, I haven't come to appreciate it and it's a case of
https://c.tenor.com/gmKzutGoU7IAAAAM/karl-urban.gif

This is a fun one, I think. The Red Telephone is my favourite.. We're all normal and we want our freedom. Freedom? Freedumb.

So, I guess Da Capo is out too?

Not certain, but the name seems familiar. Might have done it on "Love or Hate?" way back when.
Wuzzat?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...the_Tracks.jpg
Title: Blood on the Tracks
Artist: Bob Dylan
Year: 1975
Chronological position: Fifteenth
Previous experience of this artist?: His hit singles only
Why is this considered a classic? Um. Ask a Dylan fan. Luckily, here’s one: Robert Gray, Dylan critic wrote that “it transformed the cultural perception of Dylan, and that he was no longer defined as "the major artist of the sixties. Instead, Dylan has legitimized his claim to a creative prowess as vital now as then—a power not bounded by the one decade he so affected.” Uh, yeah. Another one, an English dude with the unlikely name of Clinton Heylin, agreed. Maybe. “Ten years after he turned the rock & roll brand of pop into rock ... [Dylan] renewed its legitimacy as a form capable of containing the work of a mature artist." Okay. Alternatively, ask Boucning Heart sorry Rubber Soul or Pet_Sounds. They’ll know.

My thoughts
One minute (or thereabouts in) ---- Good, great, bad, meh, still waiting or other? Good
One track in --- Good
Halfway through --- Getting meh now
Finished --- Meh

Comments: This is the first Dylan album I have ever listened to in my life. It may very well be the last. I don’t have anything against Dylan, but I’ve never had any interest in his work. Even I, though, can recognise the genius behind songs like “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”, “Blowin’ in the Wind” and of course “Like a Rolling Stone”. That’s pretty much all I know about him though in terms of his musical output. I know a lot of people castigated him for having the audacity to move beyond acoustic music, but I don’t care about that, and frankly, if people have that mindset then it’s their fault for remaining stuck in the past, I would think. But as I say, I don’t care.

Some have made the point that this album relates lyrically to the breakup of Dylan’s marriage, among them his children, but the man himself has denied this, and I guess he should know. But again - and I really can’t stress this enough - I don’t care. I’m not getting into the reasons behind why he wrote what he did; I just want to see if the album appeals to me or not. At the moment it’s a kind of shrug, but we’re only on the first track, so we’ll see. Yeah didn’t think much of that. “Simple Twist of Fate” is a lot better. Like the harmonica. Sounds a little Beatles/early Supertramp in the melody. Shut up. Next one is really nice too, the piano adds a lot to the song however the harmonica this time ruins it, sounds all over the place, like he dropped it or something. Suppose it’s deliberate, but I don’t get it.

Good throaty organ (ooer!) is always a good base to build a song on, I feel, and the one on “Idiot Wind” growls and scrapes along with real aggression, but is it that the production is shit or what, as the music seems to fade in and out as if there were what we used to call dropouts on a tape? Wasn’t like this on any of the previous tracks. If it is the production, and not just something that happens to be wrong with just this one track on the YT playlist I have, then I have to say it destroys what sounds like it could be a good song. Can’t really hear it properly, so I can’t rate it. Unfortunately it’s also the longest track, nearly eight minutes long. Sigh.

Haters unite against me! I have never believed Dylan could sing. I suppose that’s very arrogant, considering that my singing could be used as an emergency method of clearing a building. Or a city. What I mean is that I don’t like the way he sings; it always seems to me that he’s more shouting the vocal rather than singing. I’ve always felt that way about him. This album just reinforces that view. Note: near the end, the fading production seems to have been sorted, but it’s a little late now. Next track kind of just passed me by, but the one after that is decent. The slide guitar work here is cool. Next one is a kind of country style, quite fast compared to the rest of the album so far, with a thick whining organ. It’s all right, nothing special. Haters unite! Aw hell I was wrong: “Idiot Wind” is not the longest track, this is, by a clear minute. Sigh again.

Yeah overall I’d say it’s not bad but it is pretty boring, to me. Somewhat like the James Taylor album I reviewed yesterday in Bitesize, just not gripping me. I never thought I would be a Dylan fan, and now I’m pretty convinced of that fact. Not that this is a bad album, but it just ain’t for me. In retrospect, it could also be that none of the songs I know are on it. Shrug.

Favourite track(s): “Simple Twist of Fate”, “You’re a Big Girl Now”, “Meet Me in the Morning”
Least favourite track(s):

Final impression --- More or less as expected. Nothing special, not to me.

Do I feel, at the end, A) I wish I had listened to this sooner
B) I'm sorry I bothered
C) I might end up liking this
D) Have to wait and see
E) Bit underwhelmed; was ok but a classic?
F) Definitely enjoyed it, but again would I consider it a classic?
G) Enjoyed this album just purely on its own merits
H) Glad I listened to it
I) Didn’t really affect me.

Think this is a B guys.

https://i.postimg.cc/VkrxLZMs/classic2.png

Came across this and thought it would be a handy marker to show how many albums are left. Made a few changes to the original post and I see others were suggested/demanded in later posts, so I will add them as soon as I have a mo.

For now, this is how it stands, going on the original list:

PIL --- Metal box
Moby --- Play
Funkadelic --- Maggot brain
Talking Heads --- Remain in Light
Sonic Youth --- Daydream Nation
Wilco --- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Gang of Four --- Entertainment!
ADDING FROM SUGGESTIONS GIVEN AT THE TIME BUT NEVER ADDED
The Go- Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane
Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
Portishead - Dummy
Big Star - #1 Record
Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything
Pere Ubu - Dub Housing
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew




If anyone wants to suggest additions go ahead, but remember it's up to me as to whether I accept them or not.

Don't know if you mean Love's 2nd album or something else, but I think TH's post before yours was in reference to Loveless.

I looked through the index for that thread and didn't see it, so I guess I'll do that one if you decide to accept it. One of the immortal albums of the 60's imo

"All o'God's children s'gotta have their freedom!"

edit:
I wouldn't worry then because it seems like you already have

do Bikini Kill - the (CD version of the) first 2 records

Trollheart, am I right in that you never took the Zappa plunge? If so, consider adding One Size Fits All to your list which is the last album by The Mothers of Invention.

Hot Rats, Overnite Sensation and Apostrophe may be more known, but as far as I can tell, One Size Fits All is the album Zappa fans tend to rank highest overall. In any case, it's a classic.

Also it's fun, relatively short and accessible (for Zappa).

:beer:

That name sounds familiar. Album? But is it an acknowledged classic? (See my criteria a few posts back).

Yeah maybe I was recommended it but didn't do it? There were, if I remember, few albums I did that with though. I'm pretty sure I took all recs, or 99% of them. Can't really see why that would be in the 1% I refused, if at all.
I know, yes, and Monster Movie. Maybe I'll just scrub it, as it looks likely I'll come across their whole goddamn discography in that thread.

Oh right! Maybe one of those things that happened during my many years hiatus.. I'll check that thread out :)

I like (love) big Z, but I'd concede that a good portion of his 60s music is intended to be.. divisive is the nice word and annoying is the other one. But his 70s period is gold. It's gold, ya hear!!1

Anyways, I'm sure you have a lot of listening to do so I won't burden you more :D it's good and brave of you to take all this on, I must say. Good job!

Okay then, the OP has been updated.
Next up:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...aininLight.jpg

Duh